“Democrats really have a winning issue here, and we should drive it hard,” said Celinda Lake, the Democratic pollster who helped conduct the bipartisan poll. “We’re in an era now where there’s a lot of cynicism about trickle-down economics.”

Congress and the White House are currently battling over whether to allow the George W. Bush tax cuts — on middle-income and wealthy Americans — to expire at the end of this year, at the same time that massive spending cuts might occur. The so-called “fiscal cliff” could spark a recession just when the economy is beginning to recover.

During the 2012 elections, Obama campaigned on making the wealthy pay their fair share and has since claimed a mandate for raising taxes on the rich.

According to the poll — taken from from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6 — 69 percent of respondents oppose raising taxes on small businesses that earn more than $250,000 — a group that the GOP is trying to protect with its push to extend the Bush tax cuts.

Republican pollster Ed Goeas, who also helped conduct the poll, sees a contradiction among those who say they don’t want to raise taxes on small businesses yet don’t think raising taxes on those earning over $250,000 will hurt the economy.

“Voters understand the problem, but they have come to no conclusions or solutions,” he said Sunday. “If there’s any belief on the part of Obama that he has in any way a mandate, … this data would show that he does not.”

For the first time, after the fiscal cliff dominated the conversation during the month following the election, government spending and the budget deficit narrowly edged out “the economy” as the most important issue to voters.

Three in four voters want to “cut government spending across the board,” but 59 percent oppose making significant cuts to the defense budget and 46 percent support ending foreign aid.

The slightest majority backs reducing Social Security and Medicare benefits for seniors that have higher incomes, but 64 percent oppose raising the retirement age to begin collecting Social Security benefits.

Readers' Comments (211)

this train has left the station and the only ones still standing on the platform wondering what time is it are congressional republicans afraid of grover norquist/being primaried. for those afraid of being primaried i offer chuck hagel's advice; Hagel: If You Want a Safe Job, Go Sell Shoes - ABC News

Since 1960 raising the top tax rate on the rich has had an inverse relationship to tax revenues collected by the government. Raising the tax rate on the wealthiest at this time is unlikely to break that long string, so one can only conclude that raising the rates is purely political and punitive.

It's a do it to them American's but don't do it to us Americans stand off. We have truly fallen from grace as a nation.

The American future looks very bad, and it looks like the middle class is moving toward the poverty level. At one point 250,000 was in the middle of the middle class. Now it's considered rich? Where do the middle class American's stand now at 60,000 to 100,000?

Cutting Government spending across the board is the only one I agree with. The Government spending is the problem and taxing the rich and middle class is not the answer.

So much for equity! So 60 % believe it's equitable ( fair and justifiable)?

It is time for the REAL REPUBLICAN PARTY to take back control of the agenda and sweep the NUTCASE TEABAGGERS out the door. GOVERNING REQUIRES BOTH COMPROMISE AND REVENUE. I know that there are at least 50 so-called Republicans in the House who believe that serving the best interests of the nation comes before serving an idiology. Speaker Boehner needs to gather together the coalition of the middle and Minority Leader Pelosi needs to do the same. Bring the Senate bill to the floor and pass it. Pass the McConnell rule on the debt ceiling as a sepatrate stand-alne bill and send it to the Senate. Then, everyone go home for the Holidays and come back in January, if you were reelected and begin negotiating the real solution for paying off the Republicans' debt created from their wrong-headed notion of supply-side economics...it never has, does not, and never will work in the real world.

Johne37179, That was true when the rates actually were high. Now they are not. It is a different world. The economic crisis is the child of wrong-heade economic policy on the part of the 'conservatives.' You cannot cut revenue and increase spending exponentially and expect it not to create massive debt. That only works in the make-believe world of Grover Norquist and Karl Rove. Paying down the Republican war debt, their free Medicare Part D, and the deficit created by their tax cuts will take the next 40 years...the decades that the serving congresses expected to finally get around to fixing Social Security/medicare/Medicaid. Thank you Dick Armee, Ronald Reagan, Dick, Chenney, George Bush, Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, and Phil Gramm. Thanks a lot!

Sidebar: [ Remember that much of our "Labor Population is OLD by age 55 not 75" They work 10-12 hrs for 6-7 days in very physical jobs; thus, we just can't do a "Blanket-raise of Social Security Age" Because that Increases the "SS-Disability-Claims!"]

Big corporations and Romney-type Wall Streeters have been gouging at the trough for too long and the public is starting to battle back. The French aristocracy found out a few hundred years ago that the rubber band can be stretched only so far before it snaps.

This poll merely reinforces what other polls are saying, namely that the public is sick and tired of rich people using their influence in Congress to make laws that they then use to further widen the gap between them and the 98 percent of us struggling to make ends meet.

Why Republicans continue to commit political suicide by aligning with those rich turds is a mystery. A few in the GOP are starting to understand. I expect the dam to burst right after Christmas, when we get a deal.

The president -- assuming he doesn't buckle like he did a few years ago -- and the people will win this.

4. Even your own moderate intelligent republicans (the few left) plead for reason, asking you teapers to stop being the stupid party. What is your problem?

If this is all beyond your comprehension, please make like DeMint and leave for a cushy job in the private sector so we can replace dunderheads like him with intelligent moderate people who actually represent the interests of the citizens. I am sure the Koch Bro's have jobs for all of you.

But if you want to continue as the "party of stupid," no problem For 2016, just go for DeMint/Palin!!!! What a laugh.

With the results of the last election in, the takers now officially outnumber the makers. The consumers are all in favor of voting themselves a payout from the Treasury, and having the produces pay for it.

This is unrestricted liberalism at its finest. The majority votes for more entitlements and uses the force of Government to take the fruits of someone else’s labor to cover the cost. So what are the ‘rich’ going to do about it? All that is required is for people on the Government dole to vote 50% plus one vote and the wealthy have nothing to say about the deal.

Well aside from the fact that the people polled don't realize that if your raise taxes on "the rich" they will pass the costs on to the comsumer at least they realize that GOVERNMENT SPENDING NEEDS TO BE DONE.

Well aside from the fact that the people polled don't realize that if your raise taxes on "the rich" they will pass the costs on to the comsumer at least they realize that GOVERNMENT SPENDING NEEDS TO BE DONE.

So in short, people prefer the method that has no chance of affecting them. What I really want to see in these polls is the additional question "How much of the deficit do you think will be covered by raising taxes on the rich?". Then match that to how many say "tax the rich".

After raising tax rates on the rich and maybe covering 8% of the deficit, Who will cover the other 92%? Eliminating tax loop holes and capping deductions will bring in more revenue with out killing jobs. Maybe if the Obama appointees paid their taxes we would be better off.

Here's a clue for the addlebrained Republicans: Give the people what they want. You can't continue with a plan that only about 40% of the people want. It's a sad commentary on how low Americans have fallen.Or,it could be that the uneducated can't look at countries like Greece, Spain and, to some extent, France. The total Big Gov giveaway of free stuff can only last so long. Too many people, too few resources.